Memories of last season’s Week 2 letdown still haunt Cowboys

“I don’t even remember what happened last year,” he said. “We were 8-8 last year? I don’t even remember. I know the team we got now is 1-0. That’s all I worry about.”

Whether he likes it or not, Hatcher is going to hear a lot about last season this week. And the person revisiting the club’s third-straight year out of the playoffs will be coach Jason Garrett.

The Cowboys have kicked things off for the second season in a row with a win over the New York Giants. Now their challenge is to avoid what happened in 2012, when they fell flat on their faces on the road in Week 2.

“I think there are some lessons to learn,” Garrett said Monday.

Entering Week 2 in 2012, Dallas was soaring after knocking off the defending Super Bowl champion Giants on the road in a rare Wednesday night affair. But rather than keep the momentum going, the Cowboys lost 27-7 to the upstart Seattle Seahawks at one of the toughest places to play in the NFL.

This week, Dallas faces the Kansas Chiefs, another team that could be on the rise that, like the Seahawks, is backed by some spirited fans.

On top of all that, the Chiefs are stoked after beating Jacksonville 28-2 on the road for their most lopsided season-opening win in 50 years. The game also marked the Chiefs debuts for quarterback Alex Smith, who threw for two touchdowns, and coach Andy Reid, who knows the Cowboys as well as anyone after facing them twice a season for the past 14 years as coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

“There will be some similar challenges this week (to last year),” Garrett said. “Kansas City (is coming off a) huge win. You watch that tape, and they’re a good team. And, obviously, Andy Reid is an outstanding coach and we have an immense amount of respect for what he’s all about.

“We have to put this one behind us…and try to focus on being the best team we can be.”
That means avoiding the embarrassing start they had in Seattle, where two special teams mistakes – Felix Jones’ fumble on the opening kickoff and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown – put them in a 10-0 hole.

“We didn’t do the things winning football teams do,” Garrett said.

The Chiefs landed half a dozen players on the AFC Pro Bowl roster last season, including a pair of Texas-exes in running back Jamaal Charles and linebacker Derrick Johnson. With three other Pro Bowlers on defense, Kansas City sacked Jacksonville’s Blaine Gabbert six times and allowed the Jaguars to advance beyond their 36-year line just twice in 15 series.

Charles ran for 77 yards and a TD before leaving with a bruised quadriceps muscle, but the Chiefs appear confident he will be ready for the Cowboys.

But no matter who is on the field for Kansas City, the Cowboys are determined to avoid the letdown they suffered last season in Seattle and improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2008.

“It’s important to win on the road,” said cornerback Brandon Carr, who spent his first four seasons with the Chiefs before joining Dallas in free agency last season. “It’s going to be a battle for us, both with their stadium – Arrowhead fans can get after it pretty good – and their ball club, which is playing pretty good right now. We will have our hands full.”